too much light?
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: LPS
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions LPS corals.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47667
Printed Date: May 06 2025 at 2:22am
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Topic: too much light?
Posted By: phys
Subject: too much light?
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 10:14pm
| I've noticed that my Candy, green brain, and staghorn corals really only open up at night when the lights are off. Do i have too much light on them when its on or is this natural? |
Replies:
Posted By: wickedsnowman
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 10:22pm
| Well at night they should have their feeder tentacles out. What size tank do you have and whats the lighting? |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 10:23pm
| that's what i've seen. its a 20 gallon with 96 watts of LED white/actinic |
Posted By: kody72
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 10:36pm
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how high off the water and how long of photo period? ------------- http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=60612&title=kody72-fishroom" rel="nofollow - KODY72 FISHROOM BUILD 281g DT 187g Rimless Frag ATI PM lighting SRO DSCR-300ext 8013908179 |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 10:39pm
| its only a few inches from the water with some glass in between. 12 hr light period |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 10:57pm
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It's very normal for SPS and LPS coral to open up to feed at night, because that is when, in a mature tank, tons of tiny bugs come out into the water column. During the day fish will nip at polyps which keeps them more retracted. 96 watts of LED's close to the water of a 20 gal tank? If that is true, then yes, that's a lot of light. That would be 32 - 43 LED's.  I'm wondering if you meant flourescent PC's or T5's ? That would be normal and not too much light.What's the glass in between? Is it in the light fixture or a glass top on the tank? ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 11:15pm
| yea, i've turned it down to the minimum and am putting about about 2/3 that amount. i figured it would have been.. its only 24 LEDs but they're 3 watts each. The glass in between is just a glass top. I may put some thin diffuser under the LED fixture but i'm still looking. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 20 2011 at 11:28pm
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FYI, 24x3=72 but comparing LED wattage to MH or fluorescent is not possible. I would raise the LED fixture a little higher and would definitely remove the glass top. Reef tanks should have the water open to the air. It is one way that the water can naturally stabilize at the proper pH of 8.0-8.3 Another thing to be concerned about: What are the Alk and Ca of the tank? ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 21 2011 at 1:29am
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oops.. sorry bout the mis calculation.. haha. The glass top isnt completely covering the tank. I have a few inches of room. I'm keeping it on there until i add some side mounts to keep it from falling in. Till then, need to make sure i dont fry anything.
The Ph is always between 8.1-8.2 every time i checked. The alk is hovers around 10-12 depending on how long its been since a water change and the Ca is 450-500 also depending on water changes.
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Posted By: kody72
Date Posted: March 21 2011 at 2:42am
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i would raise it to 8" or so above the water ------------- http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=60612&title=kody72-fishroom" rel="nofollow - KODY72 FISHROOM BUILD 281g DT 187g Rimless Frag ATI PM lighting SRO DSCR-300ext 8013908179 |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 21 2011 at 6:31am
| is there any reason other than air flow that it should be raised? I dont have anything but the 120 degree lenses on it so it covers everything in the tank just fine. It doesnt put much heat out so i dont see that being any other reason. There are fans blowing under the setup so the heat is being moved away anyway. At 8 inches, there would be so much light loss with the 120 deg. that it would be a waste. |
Posted By: kody72
Date Posted: March 21 2011 at 9:41am
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leds put out some crazy par on a shallow tank like that i bet your bleaching your coral having it so close. what size is it 20 Long, 20 tall, 20 standard ------------- http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=60612&title=kody72-fishroom" rel="nofollow - KODY72 FISHROOM BUILD 281g DT 187g Rimless Frag ATI PM lighting SRO DSCR-300ext 8013908179 |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 21 2011 at 6:03pm
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20 standard. I havent seen anything die or bleach so far. There are some that are growing and everything seems to be doing well. I was just wondering about the behaviour. I've dialed down from 72 watts to probably 60 or a bit less. I'll keep everyone updated as to the progress of the corals i have in so far. I really cant put it any higher due to some shelving but if it becomes an issue, I'll put some diffusing material in or take some LED's out.
Question, i thought bleaching was caused by high water temperatures and water chemistry, not so much lighting.
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Posted By: Ryan Thompson
Date Posted: March 21 2011 at 7:10pm
All three can cause bleaching. I would say that lighting is the number one cause of bleaching followed closely by the other two. |
phys wrote:Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 22 2011 at 4:05am
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Thanks for the heads up on that.. Learn something new everyday. Since i began this thread, i've noticed an increase in algae, sooo once again, looks like i may have too much light? lol. I'm decreasing the lighting period down to 9 hours. Is that sufficiant for the corals and to decrease the algae? |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: March 22 2011 at 8:21am
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Usually increases in algae means you have an excess of dissolved nutrients in the water i.e. Nitrates. Cutting back on your feedings is probably the best course of action to fight the algae. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 22 2011 at 5:32pm
| I only feed twice a day and its usually eaten by the fish in a few min. So i dont think i'm overfeeding... but i'll watch again to be sure. I've tested for nitrates and they're about at 5ppm. I'll be doing a water change tonight and we'll see where that goes. |
Posted By: Ryan Thompson
Date Posted: March 22 2011 at 7:21pm
Twice a day is pretty excessive to me. I feed my fish once every 3 or 4 days at most. If your nitrates are at 5ppm that means there is plenty for the algae to eat. I recommend not feeding your fish for 5 days straight and then feed them every other day after that. When you import nutrients the tank has to export them somehow or you start to have problems. |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: March 22 2011 at 7:49pm
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Ryan hit the nail on the head. Your nitrates are low due to the algae eating it up, that's the part that many people have trouble with. Cut back on feedings and you should be fine. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 22 2011 at 10:08pm
| quite confusing. I hear feeding schedules all over the board.. so i'll see what works for me. thanks for the input though. |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: March 22 2011 at 10:16pm
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You can feed as much as you want, it's really all about the rate your tank can export nutrients. My tank runs on carbon dosing, has a HUGE skimmer and very large fuge. So I can feed a lot more and not worry about dissolved nutrients building up. Every tank is different. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 23 2011 at 12:00am
| thats what i'll be looking at.. I'll see how fast things go as it is then cut back to a level that the system can handle. |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: March 23 2011 at 12:07am
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You're on the right track. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 23 2011 at 6:34pm
Twice/day is not too much food if the amount you feed gets eaten in one minute, but why spend the time feeding twice/day when once/day works just as well? In addition to feeding too much you don't have enough snails to eat the algae before it shows up as a problem. How do I know you don't have enough snails? I don't know, experience maybe.  Feel free to drop by and chat and/or go on the Reef Tour. You can have a lot of fun and learn a whole bunch.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 23 2011 at 8:31pm
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These are definately things that i'm taking into consideration. I didnt have enough snails.. lol, so i bought some more. I didnt see the algae until last week when i used some phytoplankton in the tank. I think an overdose on that was what set everything off. I'm cutting feeding back to once a day to see how the fish react and also the rest of.. stuff. Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions!
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Posted By: phys
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 6:16am
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Looks like the feeding once a day, lower lighting conditions, more snails, and less hours of lighting have kept the algae from spreading any faster (so i'll feed a little less still) and has helped to grow some coral faster. I had one Xenia start to die off when i was on a trip but its come back almost completely this past week. My staghorn is opening up a ton more (moved it higher and in more flow), the green brain has grown slightly and is opening more, the candy is opening more and further when it does, xenia look great, zoos look great also, my galaxia looks fluffier than ever (dont worry, i know about the galaxia, its pretty small right now and away from things farther than the sweepers have ... swept), and my blue flowery things (whose name escapes me right now) have multiplied a little.
So thanks all for the help and i hope things keep going well! Have a question about frogspawn i'll post on another thread though.
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